A silver halide photographic material generally has a photographic layer containing a hydrophilic colloid as a binder and therefore undergoes dimensional changes due to elongation and shrinkage of the photographic layer with temperature and humidity variations. Such dimensional changes are an extremely serious drawback for silver halide photographic materials which are required to reproduce dot images or minute line images with fidelity for multicolor printing.
Various means have previously been used in an attempt to improve the dimensional stability of silver halide photographic materials. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,201,250 discloses a technique in which a thickness ratio of a hydrophilic colloidal layer to a support is specified. The addition of a polymor latex to a hydrophilic colloid photographic layer has also been described, as disclosed in JP-B-39-4272, JP-B-39-17702, JP-B-43-13482, and JP-B-45-5331 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined published Japanese patent application"), and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,376,005, 2,763,625, 2,772,166, 2,852,386, 2,853,457, 3,397,988, 3,411,911, and 3,411,912.
The dimensional stability of silver halide photographic materials against temperature and humidity variations can be improved by these techniques. However, it is impossible for these techniques to prevent dimensional changes of silver halide photographic materials due to development processing. The dimensional change due to development processing is a phenomenon in which a photographic material becomes elongated due to water absorption in the support during development processing but is not restored to its original dimension by drying. As a result, the dimensions of the material differ between before and after the development processing. In the art, this phenomenon is called "poor dimensional stability with processing" and is an extremely serious disadvantage, particularly for silver halide photographic materials for printing.
In order to improve dimensional stability with processing, the use of a subbing layer containing a vinylidene chloride copolymer has been suggested, as disclosed in JP-A-64-538 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"). According to this technique, although dimensional stability with processing can be improved, adhesion between a support and the subbing layer is insufficient. To eliminate this disadvantage, it has been necessary to incorporate a swellinq agent for a support into the subbing layer or to subject the support surface to a powerful pre-treatment, such as a glow discharge.
For a polyester support, suitable swelling agents include phenol, resorcin, o-cresol, m-cresol, trichloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, monochloroacetic acid, chloral hydrate, and benzyl alcohol, with resorcin being the most preferred.
However, resorcin frequently causes spot disorders during the preparation of silver halide photographic materials.
Moreover, a glow discharge treatment of a polyester support must be carried out in a vacuum of about 1 Torr, which is not only complicated but also disadvantageous from an economic standpoint.
Further, JP-A-63-122537 teaches the formation of a primer layer comprising an aqueous melamine compound, an aqueous epoxy compound, an aqueous aziridine compound or a polyvalent metal-crosslinked vinylidene resin on a polyester film support. According to this method, however, sufficient adhesion between a silver halide photographic emulsion layer and a polyester support, particularly in a wet state, cannot be obtained, or the effect of improving dimensional stability with processing is impaired.
Hence, there has been a demand for a technique of improving adhesion between a polyester support and a silver halide photographic emulsion layer without being accompanied by the above-described disadvantages.